Comments on: In Her Own Words: Ei (Asano) Nachie Nagao, 1916 (updated with photo)

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 02:22:24 +0000

Thanks, Mark. When I typed the name from the printed caption, I thought it was odd to have two consonants together, but that was the way it was printed so I repeated it. I’ll add the “i” now.

Justin, I’m especially glad to know that Ei made it through the war and was evidently still connected with the church as late as 1949. Thanks for checking your sources yet again.

It must have been hard for Tsune Nachie to leave Ei (who would have been married by then) behind when she emigrated to Hawaii, knowing how few other faithful Saints there were for Ei to associate with.

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 01:59:39 +0000

Thank you Ardis. A wonderful expression of faith by a true pioneer. When I think of the church in Japan 35 years ago, far from coming out of obscurity and darkness in the midst of all the other faiths (and all the irreligion) in Japan, it makes even more remarkable the faithfulness of those early saints, when the entire population of the Church in Japan would have been less than 100.

(One minor typo: the man on the left was likely named Horikiri–there’s no word (or name) in Japanese that has a “k” followed by an “r” without a vowel in between. It’s possible that one of the other vowels might go there–but none seem as likely as “i”. A quick google search turns up some people with that same surname, an iris garden in Tokyo named Horikiri, and the name in Kanji that makes sense even to the semi-literate: 堀切. (May the gods of Keepa allow that to appear!)

By: Justin

Justin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:04:33 +0000

Very interesting, Ardis.

I looked through Murray Nichols’s thesis on the church in Japan and came across a few other photos of Ei, including one taken in 1949 (the image quality is far inferior to the one above).

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:25:02 +0000

Thank you, gentlemen. I was pleased to run across Ei's familiar name and testimony so unexpectedly yesterday, but was really knocked over by finding her photograph today, completely out of the blue.

By: Ray

Ray — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:12:15 +0000

Ardis, thank you. Anything that deals with the Japanese saints is near and dear to my heart.

By: Hunter

Hunter — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:05:07 +0000

This was wonderful, thanks.

By: Brian Duffin

Brian Duffin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:50:40 +0000

That is a powerful testimony, Ardis.

Thank you for sharing that.